FEMALE SERIAL KILLERS IN SOCIAL CONTEXT; Contents; List of tables; Preface; 1. The trouble with female serial killers; Introduction; Questions of definition; Making sense of female serial killers; Mary Ann Cotton ; 2. Intersections and institutions: new pathways in making sense of female serial killers; Introduction; Intersectionality: missing pieces in the puzzle of female serial murder; From the intersectional to the institutional: towards a 'bigger picture'; Criminology and institutionalism; A new route towards understanding female serial killers; 3. Development of the case study.

IntroductionThe foundations of a method; A case study ; Data collection and analysis; 4. Mary Ann's social roles ; Introduction; Wife ; Mother and stepmother ; Worker ; Acquisitive criminal; Murderer ; 5. An institutional understanding of Mary Ann and future directions for research ; Introduction; Towards a new understanding of female serial killers; An institutionally embedded serial killer; Institutional mediation beyond Mary Ann; References; Index.